Questions of a weird mind

[Eldan]

We basically ate curries twice a day. It was delicious.

[Eldan]

We basically ate curries twice a day for a month. It was delicious.

[Gravitron5000]

What about stuff like Blowfish(I think that's it). That one fish that if you prepare it wrong, or eat any but one specific part, it's pretty much death within a matter of minutes? How in the world did someone eventually figure out that there was actually an edible part to that fish when any other part would kill you damn quickly? The trial and error method doesn't seem like it would work there, because, ya know, first time someone tried it, they probably died. I know I certainly wouldn't volunteer to eat something that I just watched kill someone else.

That's Fugu, and the mark of a good chef is that they leave just enough toxin in the dish that you feel a tingle in your lips. Small doses won't kill you, but you will have symptoms.

Actually, it's quite possible to gain some idea of weather something unknown is safe to eat without suffering too much in the way of ill effects. First is smell. If it smells poisonous, don't eat it. After that is taste. If it has a numbing or excessively bitter/acrid taste, don't eat it. If it seems ok, consume small amounts and keep an awareness of any unusual effects it may have. After enough such testing, the mystery food can be positively identified as safe or unsafe.

Before going to the step of ingesting any of it, rubbing whatever you want to test for toxicity on your skin and waiting to see if you have a reaction is also a good idea. Lips are known to be especially sensitive for this purpose. Better a rash than dead.

[Yora]

Why is swarm pronounced "suarm", but sword as "sord"?

[Maralais]

I think the w disappeared in the speech as trying to add that w really slows it down.

[Karoht]

I think the w disappeared in the speech as trying to add that w really slows it down.

And weapon speed is pretty important.

[Gnoman]

[QUOTE=Hazzardevil;12651800][QUOTE=Gnoman;12650107]After that is taste. If it has a numbing or excessively bitter/acrid taste, don't eat it.

Then why do people persist in the belief that we should eat burssel sprouts?

You mean the little cabbages that are neither bitter or acrid?

[The_Admiral]

Better question is why do we eat spinach?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Because it's delicious.

[irenicObserver]

[QUOTE=Hazzardevil;12651800][QUOTE=Gnoman;12650107]After that is taste. If it has a numbing or excessively bitter/acrid taste, don't eat it.

Then why do people persist in the belief that we should eat burssel sprouts?

I have recently learned the main reason vegetables taste so bad is because everyone is cooking them wrong (i.e. overcooking).

[Starwulf]

That's Fugu, and the mark of a good chef is that they leave just enough toxin in the dish that you feel a tingle in your lips. Small doses won't kill you, but you will have symptoms.



Before going to the step of ingesting any of it, rubbing whatever you want to test for toxicity on your skin and waiting to see if you have a reaction is also a good idea. Lips are known to be especially sensitive for this purpose. Better a rash than dead.

The question remains, who was the genius who managed to say "Hey, sure this fish just killed the last god knows how many people who tried to eat it, but I am absolutely positive that no matter how many have died before this, I will be the person who finally manages to prepare it in such a way that it won't kill me or anyone who eats it". Because, if something killed someone who ate it, and then kept on killing many people after that that tried to eat it, why in the world would you keep trying to eat it? Which goes back to the person I originally quoted who described the Trial and Error method, which clearly would not have worked in this case, because it very likely(99% I'm sure) killed multiple people before a way was finally discovered to prepare it safely.

[thubby]

i think stuff like that is a product of dangerously "adventurous" people. the ones skydiving and such today.

or maybe it's because japan had very strong medicine/science for its time. something with such drastic effects would quickly become a subject of interest to an ancient man of science. they might not have been looking to it for food at all to begin with.

[Fri]

Fugu fish is simple. You just have to remove a part of it, and I'm sure that people knew back then that some part of animals might be dangerous. Like polar bear liver.

I imagine it's something like, when you cook fish you do always get rid of the internal organ. people might notice that when you do it roughly, the eater dies, but when you do it carefully and thoroughly, people survive. Things like that.

But what about cassava, who need complex processing to get rid of its very lethal cyanide. Soaking them for 24 hours is just the start of it, and one of the simpler method. And yet, cassava is staple food in a lot of place.

[Elemental]

Perhaps cassava is like the humble potato? Too hard to eat when raw, but delicious in it's cooked state?
Also, both are poisonous. Potatoes even remain poisonous after preparation.
Though you'd have to eat two kilograms of cooked potatoes in order to die.

And a lot of herbs and spices are toxic in high doses. Though admittedly, if you add too much of them, the meal often becomes unpalatable anyway.

[Gnoman]

As far as blowfish is concerned, they probably weaponized it first, which lead to discovering where the poison came form.

[Eldan]

Perhaps cassava is like the humble potato? Too hard to eat when raw, but delicious in it's cooked state?
Also, both are poisonous. Potatoes even remain poisonous after preparation.
Though you'd have to eat two kilograms of cooked potatoes in order to die.

And a lot of herbs and spices are toxic in high doses. Though admittedly, if you add too much of them, the meal often becomes unpalatable anyway.

Actually, natural cassava, as opposed to modern, poison-reduced varities, is very, very lethal. It releases eff-tons of cyanide.

That said, the preparation is not that complicated. It involves mostly cutting, soaking, more soaking and cooking.

[Traab]

As far as blowfish is concerned, they probably weaponized it first, which lead to discovering where the poison came form.

Thats actually a likely scenario. They figured out what part of the blowfish was lethal and used it as a weapon. That let them get very good at safely removing the poisonous part. The rest is just tasty. (I assume, never ate it)

[H Birchgrove]

Better question is why do we eat spinach?

Because its iron content was grossly over-estimated in the early half of the 20th century, which led to pro-spinach propaganda including the Popeye the Sailor Man cartoons. It *does* contain iron, just not very much. (If you need more iron, you eat liver or black pudding once a month, or ask your doctor or nurse if you need iron pills.)

It does, however, also contain folic acid, which is important among other things for the development of the brain.

[Mx.Silver]

Why is swarm pronounced "suarm", but sword as "sord"?

Because it's the English language.

Then why do people persist in the belief that we should eat burssel sprouts?

Because sprouts are tasty.

Who came up with the names for things? Who decided that a tomato was called a tomato, rather than a grape or a mountain?

Whoever got to them first, for the most part.

[Yora]

Because it's delicious.

Spinach is very tasty. Same goes for brocoli.

The only vegetable that is really eww is indeed brussels sprout. They do have an interesting taste, but they always taste like they have starting to rot a week ago.

Damn, now I really want some spinach or broccoli. But I have very tasty potatoes, those will have to do.

[Traab]

Spinach is very tasty. Same goes for brocoli.

The only vegetable that is really eww is indeed brussels sprout. They do have an interesting taste, but they always taste like they have starting to rot a week ago.

Damn, now I really want some spinach or broccoli. But I have very tasty potatoes, those will have to do.

I love broccoli, only time I like spinach is when its in my zupa tuscana. Or whatever that sausage soup at the olive garden is called.

[Frozen_Feet]

Spinach makes fine soup, which you can then eat with boiled eggs and meatpie.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Broccoli and cauliflower, not a big fan of. But spinach and brussel sprouts are delicious. Spanakopita is the most amazing things ever.

[Lord Raziere]

this thread suddenly makes me want to answer all the questions in it with a That Guy With the Glasses type manner...

[Yora]

You men Ask That Guy?

[Mx.Silver]

I think you'll all find the worst vegetable ever is Eruca Sative, aka Rocket. Its inexplicable popularity is guaranteed to turn any mixed leaf salad in into a middle-class variant of Russian Roulette.

[Xiander]

Why is swarm pronounced "suarm", but sword as "sord"?

Because spelling and pronunciation do not necessarily follow each other. Put in another way: You cannot deduct how to pronounce a word solely from the way it is spelled.

My professor in phonology presented us with an example of this: Fish could just as well be spelled Ghoti.

Think on that one for a while.

[Savannah]

My professor in phonology presented us with an example of this: Fish could just as well be spelled Ghoti.

Except that it can't. The "gh" that makes a "f" sound is always at the end of words, and there are similar objections for the other parts. Position within a word and relative to other letters is a very important part of pronunciation -- no one would ever consider reading "ghoti" as "fish".

[Ravens_cry]

I had a dream where I had to pay a friends bar tab unexpectedly as they dined and dashed.
Great friends, eh?
While trying to explain how I couldn't pay, I said I was "living knickers to garters" as an idiom with the same basic meaning as "living hand to mouth." basically, no extra money beyond that for the necessities.
Actually,I believe I said "nickels to garters" but I meant knickers.
My question is, does this idiom actually exit or did I, literally, dream it up?

[Dogmantra]

My professor in phonology presented us with an example of this: Fish could just as well be spelled Ghoti.

This "trick" bugs me.

GH is only pronounced F after an OU and at the end of words (mostly, though adding a suffix, like roughage) and even then not always (dough, bough etc). Then TI is only really pronounced SH when part of the -tion ending.

Take a bunch of things out of context and you can make them do whatever you want.